Upon returning to the Ning Army camp, Tang Pidi assembled his generals to discuss the swift pacification of Yue Prefecture in its entirety.

“Our true enemy is not in Yue Prefecture — it is in Shu,” Tang Pidi said. “Shu borders Yong Prefecture, and Yong forces can enter Shu from the northwest. Shu will be the most stubborn place of all.”

He pointed to the map. “And of Shu and Yong, we know almost nothing.”

Shu was a maze of interlocking mountain ranges, the roads nearly impassable. Even on the Chu court’s official maps, Shu was riddled with blank spaces. As for Yong, there were even more — more than half of Yong was uninhabitable plateau.

Yue, by contrast, had always been one of the great regions of the south, a place that contributed enormously to the court’s revenue. Yue’s maps were meticulous, detailing the location of every village. Relatively speaking, Shu and Yong were places of utter darkness for the Ning Army.

In Shu, for instance, the maps might mark a mountain at a certain position without even recording its name.

“There is also little resistance remaining in Yue that can hold out against us,” Tang Pidi continued. “So I have decided to select one commander, give him one hundred thousand troops — first, to bring all of Yue Prefecture under our Lord’s domain; second, to see the Marquis of Guan Ting safely on his way.”

His gaze swept over the assembled generals, and every one of them watched him back.

Taking Yue wasn’t particularly difficult — there really were no serious enemies left. But it was still an entire prefecture. Vast territory, and wealthy. To take it cleanly would be a great achievement.

The entire realm of Great Chu had only thirteen prefectures, and Yue was roughly four times the size of You Prefecture.

Yet from the expressions of the generals, it was clear that most of them didn’t particularly want to go to Yue.

They would rather test themselves in Shu against the last enemy standing — perhaps the strongest of all. After fighting this long, the Ning Army’s generals had developed a kind of pride that made them reluctant to bother with enemies who were too easy.

“No one wishes to volunteer?” Tang Pidi’s gaze swept the room once more. The generals laughed — but no one stepped forward.

Part of it was that the task was too easy. But part of it was also mutual deference — because the merit was large and easily gained, whoever stepped forward would look eager, and that was below their dignity. They were all commanders. Every one of them had their pride.

“Since none of you will volunteer, I’ll assign the task,” said Tang Pidi. His eyes fell on Great General Shen Shanhu. Before he could speak, Shen Shanhu shook her head first: “Let me yield to another brother.”

Tang Pidi smiled. “I was about to say — Yue is not for you to take.”

He said it with a note of authority that brooked no argument. “You have something more important to do.”

Shen Shanhu asked, “Please instruct me, Great General — what important matter?”

Tang Pidi said, calmly but unmistakably, “Keep me company.”

“Oh!” Cheng Wujie let out a shout so loud it nearly lifted the roof of the tent.

The rest of the generals erupted in laughter and cheering, each more gleeful than the last.

Shen Shanhu’s face flushed slightly — then she stepped directly in front of Tang Pidi, looked him in the eye, and said, “You want to marry me?”

Tang Pidi said, “Not just want — I want it as soon as possible.”

Shen Shanhu said, “It’s not that easy. If you want to marry me, our Lord must preside over the wedding, and the entire army must bear witness—”

Before she could finish, Tang Pidi said, “No problem.”

Shen Shanhu smiled and turned to the cheering generals: “You all heard that.”

“We heard it!” the crowd roared back, each of them more excited than if they themselves were the ones getting married — no, more excited than that by far.

Tang Pidi said, laughing, “Let’s get back to military business.”

Shen Shanhu said, “No — finish one thing before starting another.”

Tang Pidi said, “We’ll take the long way back to Jing Prefecture through the capital. I’ll ask our Lord to preside over the wedding.”

Shen Shanhu: “Bring a brush. Write me a guarantee.”

Tang Pidi laughed heartily. “I’ll write it — you think I’m afraid?”

In the end, Tang Pidi selected the young General Liu Ge to lead the forces south. Liu Ge was steady and reliable — taking Yue was no problem for him.

The rest would return with the main army to Jing Prefecture and prepare for the campaign against Shu.

—

Da Xing City, Xinyuan.

The men of the Censor Bureau came out of the room carrying a dossier — Yu Wenli’s complete signed confession.

Zhang Tang received it, glanced back at the pitiful figure inside the room, the man who seemed to have aged decades in a single day, and shook his head slightly.

“Don’t give him a hard time. Find him a better place to stay. A man like him deserves some dignity.”

He then took the confession to see Gao Xining.

The censors led Yu Wenli out of the interrogation room. Though not a single method of coercion had been used on him, he looked as though he had walked through hell and back. He seemed to carry no vitality — his face was pale as if his blood had remained behind in that infernal place, leaving only a stiff, empty shell.

“Master Yu, please.”

A censor offered him a courteous word.

Yu Wenli nodded. He lifted his head and looked at the sky. The sunlight was more than his eyes could tolerate.

Though he had not been kept in prolonged darkness, it felt as if he had already lost the ability to belong to this world.

Two censors followed alongside Yu Wenli, escorting him back to his own home, where he would remain under house arrest by order of the King of Ning until a decision was reached.

“My wife won’t be implicated, will she?” Yu Wenli asked.

The censor replied, “Master Yu’s wife has been at home the entire time and has not been detained. The Deputy Chief Censor made no arrangements for anyone to watch her. There are no men of ours outside your door — you’ll see when you get home.”

“Thank you, thank you,” Yu Wenli said repeatedly, and for the first time a little warmth returned to him.

When he reached home and pushed the door open — the first thing he saw was his wife, hanging from the rafters. Yu Wenli went completely rigid.

His wife had believed him certain to die as a result of Chu Emperor Yang Jing’s involvement. Their daughter — the Empress of Chu — had died from a difficult labor and shock. Their son had died loyal to the Emperor, dashing his head against the rebel camp’s gates. And now her husband would be swept away in the carnage too. She could bear no more.

Not long after, Yu Wenli found a length of rope in the house, and tied it to the rafter beside his wife.

“Yang Jing!” he roared from atop the stool. “Why did you choose our family?! Why did you have to ruin us all?!”

Then he kicked the stool away.

The men of the Censor Bureau had genuinely had no intention of treating Yu’s wife harshly — Gao Xining had instructed that Yu Wenli was an innocent man, and his wife even more so, and they were not to be troubled. The censors had even left the household servants in place, telling them not to be afraid and that they would not be implicated.

But the censors left during the day, and by that night all the servants had fled.

Perhaps it was in that very moment that Yu Wenli’s wife lost all will to go on.

Two days later, when censors arrived to inform him of the King of Ning’s decision, they found the bodies of the couple.

Li Chi had dispatched someone with a plan to send Yu Wenli to Chang’an City, where a great academy was to be established in the future. Yu Wenli was a man of profound scholarly learning, and Li Chi had hoped he would go there to help. No one could have foreseen that this family would meet such a sorrowful end.

The censors informed Gao Xining, who was shaken, and hurried to tell Li Chi.

Li Chi sat in silence for a long, long time after hearing the news.

—

At the border of Liang Prefecture, as the Maying envoys escorted Yang Jing out through the pass, Yang Jing looked back in the direction of Jing Prefecture.

Maying Flag Officer Dian Cang asked, “What is Your Majesty looking at?”

Yang Jing was quiet for a moment before answering: “The direction of Da Xing City.”

Dian Cang said, “Your Majesty need not worry. Once in Shu, with the Jiedushi’s support and the full power of Shu behind you, you will eventually reclaim Da Xing City.”

The other Flag Officer, Zhou Xiaoxin, said, “Your Majesty need not dwell on what has already passed. None of it is worth thinking about anymore.”

Yang Jing paused. He looked at Zhou Xiaoxin. “And the people?”

Zhou Xiaoxin smiled. “None of what has already passed is worth thinking about — and the same goes for the people. Your Majesty is the Emperor. Those who fled in betrayal — Your Majesty need not care about them. As for those who died in loyal service — that is simply what subjects of the Emperor do.”

Yang Jing nodded. He said it to himself, as if testing the words: “All those people who have already passed… I need not… think about them.”

He exhaled heavily. “Yes. I need not think about them.”

The column passed through the gate and pressed on at pace. Yang Jing’s leg was broken and could never fully recover — a Censor Bureau agent had snapped it at the joint with a reverse kick, and it was not the kind of wound that simply heals.

Along the road, the Maying people carried themselves with humility, never arrogant, always deferential to his words.

Yang Jing thought to himself: Perhaps things will get better.

He occasionally thought of Yu Wenli, not knowing whether the man would be caught up in reprisals. After all, the King of Ning Li Chi wouldn’t be forgiving about something like this, surely.

Then he recalled Zhou Xiaoxin’s words again — they are all Your Majesty’s subjects, doing what they ought to do.

So if Yu Wenli truly was punished, if he truly died at the hands of the King of Ning… that was… that was fulfilling his reputation as a loyal subject, wasn’t it.

By mountain road and waterway, after two months of winding travel, Yang Jing at last arrived at Mei City — the seat of Shu Prefecture’s administration.

Shu Prefecture Jiedushi Pei Qi led his civil and military officials to receive him outside the city gates. Seeing Yang Jing helped down from the carriage, Pei Qi and his entourage stepped forward quickly, then, following the rites of Great Chu, swept their robes and knelt, performing the full ceremony of three bows and nine prostrations before the Emperor.

In this moment, no one knew what Yang Jing was thinking.

But he smiled. He smiled, watching those who knelt before him, and his eyes were very bright.

—